Shoe with therapeutic microbeads

ABSTRACT

A shoe for massaging and supporting a wearer&#39;s foot, the shoe having a sole, a foot bed, at least one strap, and a plurality of microbeads. The foot bed and strap each include at least one layer of flexible covering that enclose the microbeads therein for massaging and supporting the wearer&#39;s foot.

FIELD OF INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to footwear. In particular the present invention relates to a shoe that therapeutically massages a wearer's foot.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a shoe constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of another shoe constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of another shoe constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

The drawing figures do not limit the current invention to the specific embodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description of the invention references the accompanying drawings that illustrate specific embodiments in which the invention can be practiced. The embodiments are intended to describe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can be utilized and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the current invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the current invention is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

In this description, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to are included in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separate references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” in this description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and are also not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. For example, a feature, structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment may also be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarily included. Thus, the current technology can include a variety of combinations and/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.

One embodiment of the present invention is a shoe 100 as shown in FIG. 1. The shoe 100 comprises a sole 10, a foot bed 12, at least one strap 14, and a plurality of microbeads 16.

The sole 10 protects a wearer's foot from the ground or floor surface and is formed from molded or extruded material such as plastic, rubber, crepe, closed cell soft foam, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, or any other suitable material or a combination of materials. The sole 10 can be any solid color or color pattern. The sole 10 has a non-slip bottom tread and is securely fastened to the foot bed 12 as described below. In one embodiment, the perimeter of the sole 10 has a raised shoulder to stabilize and keep the foot bed 12 securely inside the sole's 10 perimeter.

The foot bed 12 supports the wearer's foot and includes a flexible covering 18. The flexible covering 18 can be composed of one or a combination of closely woven natural or synthetic fibers or blend of materials including but not limited to solid or patterned cloth woven from cotton, nylon, polyester, rayon, or silk fibers, spandex; rubber; polar fleece; fleece; velour; and/or leather, or any other suitable material. The texture of the flexible covering 18 can vary from soft and silky to an irregular and/or slightly abrasive texture. The flexible covering 18 can be 2-way stretchable, 4-way stretchable or a combination thereof. The flexible covering 18 encloses some of the microbeads 16 therein. In one embodiment, the foot bed 12 is a closed pouch wherein some of the microbeads 16 are enclosed inside one or more layers of the flexible covering 18. The foot bed 12 can be permanently or temporarily attached to the sole 10. For example, the outer edge of the pouch can be attached to the perimeter of the sole 10 by glue, cement, Velcro®, stitching, vulcanizing, fusing, or any other means of attachment. The bottom surface of the foot bed 12 can also be fixed to the upper surface of the sole 10 with glue, epoxy, cement, Velcro®, stitching, vulcanizing, or any other means of attachment to secure the foot bed 12 to the sole 10. As another example, at least one Velcro® strip or any other complementary type of attachment feature temporarily fixes the bottom surface of the foot bed 12 to the upper surface of the sole 10 to allow quick and easy removal of the foot bed 12 for cleaning or replacement. One or more Velcro® strips located on the bottom surface of a clean or new foot bed can be attached to a complementary Velcro® strip(s) fixed to the upper surface of the sole 10. In yet another embodiment, the foot bed 12 may not have a bottom surface and the microbeads 16 are instead placed directly on the upper surface of the sole 10 and held in place by one or more layers of the flexible covering 18. In this embodiment, the flexible covering 18 is one or more sheets of material positioned on top of the microbeads 16, and the outer edge of the flexible covering 18 is permanently attached to the perimeter of the sole 10. In this embodiment, the flexible covering 18 can be permanently or temporarily attached to the perimeter of the sole 10 with glue, epoxy, cement, Velcro®, stitching, vulcanizing, fusing, or any other means of attachment to secure the foot bed 12 to the sole 10 and to retain the microbeads 16 beneath the flexible covering 18.

The strap 14 secures the wearer's foot to the foot bed 12 and includes a flexible covering 20. The strap 14 is attached to the upper surface of the sole 10 and/or the foot bed 12 with glue, epoxy, cement, Velcro®, stitching, vulcanizing, fusing, or any other means of attachment to secure the strap 14 to the sole 10 and/or foot bed 12. The flexible covering 20 is similar to the flexible covering 18 of the foot bed 12 and can be composed of one or a combination of closely woven natural or synthetic fibers or blend of materials including but not limited to solid or patterned cloth woven from cotton, nylon, polyester, rayon, or silk fibers; spandex; rubber; polar fleece; fleece; velour; and/or leather; or any other suitable material. The texture of the flexible covering 20 can vary from soft and silky to an irregular and/or slightly abrasive texture. The flexible covering 20 can be 2-way stretchable, 4-way stretchable, or a combination thereof. The flexible covering 20 encloses some of the microbeads 16 therein. One or more decorations can be attached to the outer surface of the strap 14. The decoration(s) can be at least one bead, tassel, buckle, stud, decorative stitching, and/or any other decorative article fixed to the outer surface of the strap 14.

The microbeads 16 massage the wearer's feet and can be made from one or more materials, including but not limited to, glass, acrylic, metal such as aluminum, silica, resin, thermoplastics, foam, and/or polystyrene, or any other suitable material. The microbeads 16 can move freely inside the flexible coverings 18, 20 to conform to different foot contours or curves for therapeutically supporting and massaging the wearer's foot. The microbeads 16 can be between 0.3 and 2.0 mm in diameter and may be treated with an antistatic coating. Application of an antistatic coating to the microbeads 16 eliminates the generation of electrostatic charges, improves the independent movement of the microbeads 16, and prevents the microbeads 16 from adhering to one another.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a shoe 200, as shown in FIG. 2. The shoe 200 is substantially similar to the shoe 100 described above except that the shoe 200 includes a strap 202 instead of strap 14. The strap 202 is a wide band that extends across the instep leaving the toes and heel of the wearer's foot exposed. The strap 202 is attached to the sole 10 and/or foot bed 12 on the inside and outside of the instep. The strap 202 can be a single wide band or at least two short bands adjustably attached to each other by a fastening device, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The fastening device can be a buckle, Velcro®, an elastic strip, snaps, hooks, buttons, or any other fastening mechanism.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a shoe 300, as shown in FIG. 3. The shoe 300 is substantially similar to shoes 100, 200 except that the shoe 300 includes a strap 302 instead of straps 202 and 14. The strap 302 is a vamp that covers the wearer's toes and instep leaving the wearer's heel exposed. The strap 302 has a generally U-shaped perimeter defining the front and side edges. The strap 302 is attached to the sole 10 and/or foot bed 12 around the front and sides of the perimeter of the shoe 300. In another embodiment, the vamp has at least one gore (an elastic fabric panel) to make the shoe 300 more comfortable and easier to put on and take off the wearer's foot.

Although the invention has been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is noted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as recited in the claims. 

Having thus described various embodiments of the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includes the following:
 1. A shoe for massaging and supporting the foot, the shoe comprising: a sole; a foot bed attached to the sole and including at least one layer of flexible covering; at least one strap for securing a wearer's foot to the foot bed, the strap including at least one layer of flexible covering; and a plurality of microbeads for supporting and massaging the wearer's foot, wherein the foot bed encloses at least some of the microbeads within the at least one layer of flexible covering of the foot bed for supporting and massaging the bottom of the wearer's foot and the strap encloses at least some of the microbeads within the at least one layer of flexible covering of the strap for massaging additional areas of the wearer's foot.
 2. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the strap is a narrow thong that is attached to the shoe between and below first and second toe positions, passes upward between the wearer's first and second toes when worn, gradually widens as the strap extends over the instep, and is attached to the shoe on opposite sides of the instep.
 3. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the at least one strap includes a plurality of straps that extend across the wearer's foot and secure the wearer's foot to the sole.
 4. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the strap is a single wide band that extends across the instep leaving the wearer's toes and heel exposed, the strap being attached to the shoe at opposite sides of the instep.
 5. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the strap is a vamp that covers the wearer's toes and instep leaving the wearer's heel exposed.
 6. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the microbeads have a diameter of between 0.3 and 2.0 mm.
 7. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the microbeads are treated with an antistatic coating.
 8. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the microbeads are composed of polystyrene.
 9. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the at least one layer of flexible covering is 4-way stretchable.
 10. The shoe of claim 4, wherein the band is composed of at least two parts adjustably attachable to each other by a fastening device.
 11. The shoe of claim 10, wherein the fastening device is at least one buckle.
 12. The shoe of claim 10, wherein the fastening device is at least one Velcro strip.
 13. The shoe of claim 10, wherein the fastening device is elastic.
 14. The shoe of claim 5, further comprising at least one gore fixed to the vamp edge.
 15. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the strap is attached to the foot bed via an adhesive.
 16. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the strap is attached to the foot bed via stitching.
 17. The shoe of claim 1, wherein the foot bed is removable.
 18. The shoe of claim 14, wherein the foot bed is washable.
 19. The shoe of claim 1, further comprising a decoration.
 20. A shoe for massaging and supporting the foot, the shoe comprising: a sole; a foot bed attached to the sole, the foot bed including at least one layer of flexible covering; at least one strap for securing a wearer's foot to the foot bed, the at least one strap including at least one layer of flexible covering; and a plurality of polystyrene microbeads for supporting and massaging the wearer's foot, wherein the at least one layer of flexible covering of the foot bed encloses some of the microbeads therein for supporting and massaging the bottom of the wearer's foot, and wherein the at least one layer of flexible covering of the at least one strap encloses some of the microbeads therein for massaging other areas of the wearer's foot. 